Charging Port Display Device

The present invention relates to display devices included chargers to receive electric power for charging.

An electric vehicle is provided with a connector (charging port) to which a cable for supplying electric power from the outside is connected in order to charge an in-vehicle rechargeable battery.

Most of a plurality of connectors provided in a vehicle are provided in a recess portion that is recessed inward with respect to an outer wall surface of the vehicle. Further, the vehicle is provided with a lid that openably/closably covers the recess portion.

Further, a vehicle described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-43744 is provided with an illumination within a recess portion in such a way as to illuminate the vicinity of a connector, and is configured in such a way as to turn on the illumination when a lid is unlocked.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-43744 also discloses a technique in which an LED is used for illumination, and in a case where a rechargeable battery is fully charged during charging, a color and the like of the illumination are changed.

However, simply illuminating the vicinity of a connector at a time of opening a lid as in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-43744 may make it difficult to instantaneously recognize a position of a connector within the recess portion in all environments such as at nighttime and daytime.

In addition, there is also a demand for a display device that allows a worker near a connector to easily recognize, at a glance and in detail, not only a position of the connector and a full charge state of a rechargeable battery, but also various states and information related to charging.

Example embodiments of the present invention provide charging port display devices that each facilitate easy recognition of a position of a connector at a time of opening a lid that covers the connector, and enables to easily recognize various states and information related to charging.

According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a charging port display device includes a display in a power receiver on an outer wall of a vehicle and to which electric power is supplied from an external power supply, and a display controller configured or programmed to control an operation of the display, wherein the power receiver includes a lid body to openably/closably cover a space in which a connector to which an electric power supply line from the external power supply is connected is installed, the charging port display device includes a lid body opening detector to detect an opening operation of the lid body, the display includes a plurality of light emitters at or adjacent to the connector within the space; and the display includes a light transmission suppressing structure to suppress transmission of light.

Preferably, the display may include the plurality of light emitters arranged in a lateral direction above the connector to irradiate light toward the connector.

Preferably, the display is operable in a guidance display mode in which the plurality of light emitters are sequentially turned on from one of the light emitters closer to the connector to another of the light emitters farther from the connector.

Preferably, the display controller may be configured or programmed to cause all the light emitters to simultaneously blink in the same color as that of the guidance display mode during a connection standby state after the guidance display mode is performed until the electric power supply line is connected to the connector.

Preferably, the display controller may be configured or programmed to cause all the light emitters to simultaneously blink in a color different from that during the guidance display mode and the connection standby state during charging in which the electric power supply line is connected to the connector and electric power is supplied from the external power supply.

Preferably, the display controller may be configured or programmed to cause all the light emitters to turn on in the same color as that during the charging at a time when charging from the external power supply is completed.

Preferably, the display controller may be configured or programmed to cause all the light emitters to simultaneously blink in a color different from that in any display during the guidance display mode, during the connection standby state, during the charging, and at the time of charging completion at a charging disabled time when connection between the connector and the electric power supply line has failed.

Preferably, the display controller may be configured or programmed to cause all the light emitters to simultaneously blink in a color different from that in any display during the guidance display mode, during the connection standby state, during the charging, at the time of charging completion, and at the charging disabled time at a failure time when charging from the external power supply is disabled even when the connector and the electric power supply line are connected to each other.

Preferably, the display may include a plurality of light emitters on an installation plane of the connector located within the space, and arranged in a radial direction around the connector.

Preferably, the display controller may be configured or programmed to repeatedly cause all the light emitters to turn on for a predetermined time by sequentially turning on the plurality of light emitters from one of the light emitters farther from the connector to another of the light emitters closer to the connector, and thereafter, cause all the light emitters to turn off during a connection standby state after the guidance display mode is performed until the electric power supply line is connected to the connector.

Preferably, electric power supplied from the external power supply may be charged in a rechargeable battery in the vehicle, the charging port display device may include a charging rate input to provide a charging rate of the rechargeable battery, and the display controller may be configured or programmed to repeatedly change a color of the light emitters of a number associated with the charging rate among the plurality of light emitters between a color different from that during the guidance display mode and the connection standby state, and the color during the guidance display mode and the connection standby state during charging in which the electric power supply line is connected to the connector and electric power is supplied from the external power supply.

Preferably, the display controller may be configured or programmed to repeatedly cause the plurality of light emitters to sequentially turn on from a light emitter far from the connector to a light emitter close to the connector in a color different from that during the guidance display mode and the connection standby state during charging in which the electric power supply line is connected to the connector and electric power is supplied from the external power supply.

Preferably, the display controller may be configured or programmed to cause all the light emitters to turn on in a color different from that during the guidance display mode and the connection standby state, and in a color of light emitted during the charging at a time when charging from the external power supply is completed.

Preferably, the display may include a light transmission suppressing structure to suppress transmission of light.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, providing a plurality of light emitters at or adjacent to a connector, and performing guiding display to guide a line of sight to the connector by changing a light emission amount of the plurality of light emitters at a time of opening a lid facilitates easy recognition of a position of the connector.

In addition, since a plurality of light emitters are provided, many kinds of display modes can be achieved by optionally causing each light emitter to turn on and off, and blink. Therefore, a worker at or adjacent to the connector can easily recognize an open state of the lid, and various states and information related to charging.

The above and other elements, features, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the example embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

Hereinafter, example embodiments the present of invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.

is a perspective view illustrating a structure of a displayand a vicinity of a mounting portion thereof in a charging port display system (charging port display device) according to the first example embodiment of the present invention.is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of the displayand the vicinity of the mounting portion thereof in the first example embodiment. Note that,is a cross-sectional view taken along the portion A-A described in.is an explanatory diagram of a detailed structure of the displayin the first example embodiment, and is a diagram when the displayand the vicinity of the mounting portion thereof are viewed from a front side.

As illustrated in, the displayin a charging port display systemaccording to the first example embodiment of the present invention is provided in a power receiverprovided on, for example, an outer left wall(outer wall) of an electric vehicle (hereinafter, referred to as a vehicle).

The power receiverincludes a connectorto which a charging plug at an end of a charging cable (electric power supply line) is connected. Electric power is supplied from an external power supply via the charging cable (including a charging plug) and the connector, and an unillustrated rechargeable battery loaded in the vehicle is charged.

A rectangular or substantially rectangular opening portionis located in the outer left wallof the vehicle, and a rectangular or substantially rectangular box-shaped housingis provided in such a way as to cover the opening portionof the outer left wallfrom the inside. Specifically, a recess portion, which is a space recessed inward from the outer left wallof the vehicle, is defined by the housing.

The connectoris fixed to a bottom wall, which is a wall surface of the housingon the vehicle inner side (the right side in the vehicle width direction), and is arranged in such a way as to face the outside of the opening portion.

The power receiveris provided with a lid, which is a lid body that covers the opening portion.

The lidhas a rectangular or substantially rectangular plate shape slightly larger than the opening portion, and a portion of the lidon the vehicle front side is supported on the inside of the outer left wallby a hinge.

Therefore, when the lidis closed, the power receiveris brought to a closed state in which the opening portionis covered, and when the lidis opened, the opening portionis opened, and the power receiveris brought to an opened state in which the charging plug can be connected to the connector.

As illustrated in, the displayin the first example embodiment of the present invention is provided on an upper wallof the housing, and includes a plurality of light emitterssuch as LEDs. The light emitterscan be switched and turned on in at least white, blue, yellow, and red individually. Further, as illustrated by a two dot chain line in, the light emittersare positioned in such a way as to irradiate light downward toward the connector.

The light emittersare arranged to have the same number on the left and right sides (in the vehicle front-rear direction) with respect to a middle position of the connectorin the vehicle front-rear direction as a middle, for example. In the present example embodiment, two sets of five light emitters, i.e., ten light emittersin total are provided, for example, and the light emittersare respectively referred to as light emitters,,,, andfrom the middle side toward both outer sides.

is a configuration diagram of the charging port display systemincluding the display.

As illustrated in, the charging port display systemincludes the display, a charging port display controller(a charging rate input, a display controller), and a lid opening/closing switch(lid body opening detector).

The lid opening/closing switchis provided in the vehicle, and detects opening and closing of the lid. Detection information of the lid opening/closing switchis input to the charging port display controller. Further, the charging port display controllerreceives current charging state information (charging rate) of the rechargeable battery of the vehicle from a charging controller, which is a control device of the charging system of the vehicle, and also receives an operation state of the charging system of the vehicle. The operation state of the charging system is, for example, information such as an insertion state of the charging plug into the connector, a failure of the charging system, and charging completion.

The charging port display controlleris configured or programmed to include an input/output device, a storage device (a ROM, a RAM, a nonvolatile RAM, or the like), a central processing unit (CPU), and the like, and is configured or programmed to perform operation control (display control) of the light emittersin the displayaccording to an opening/closing state of the lid, an operation state of the charging system, and the like.

Next, display modes of the displayin the first example embodiment are described.

The displaychanges a display mode according to the following various states (1) to (6), for example.

In a case where an opening operation of the lidfrom a closed state is input from the lid opening/closing switch, the charging port display controllercontrols the displayin such a way that a guidance display mode of turning on the light emittersfrom the middle light emitterand in order of the light emitters,,, andis performed. When the light emitteron the outermost side is turned on, all the light emitterstoare turned on. All the light emitterstoare turned on in white, and the light emitterstoare turned on within, for example, 1.5 seconds. Then, all the light emitterstoare kept turned on. In this way, in the display, at a time of opening the lid, the guidance display mode is performed in which the light emitters are turned on in such a way that light illuminating the connectorspreads from the middle side toward the outer side. Note that, regarding display at a time of opening the lid, in addition to switching to sequentially turn on from an off-state as described above, strong light may be caused to spread from the inner side toward the outer side by sequentially increasing illuminance (output) of the light emittersto

During a charging standby state after the above-described guidance display mode at a time of opening the lid is performed until the charging plug is inserted into the connector, all the light emitterstoare caused to blink simultaneously in white, which is the same color as that at a time of opening the lid at intervals of, for example, 0.8 second (repeatedly turning on and off every 0.8 second).

During charging in which the charging plug is inserted into the connector, and charging current is being supplied from the external power supply to the rechargeable battery, all the light emitterstoare caused to blink simultaneously, for example, in blue, which is a color different from that (1) at a time of opening the lid, and (2) during a standby state at intervals of, for example, 0.8 second.

In a case where charging completion of the rechargeable battery of the vehicle, specifically, a full charged state of the rechargeable battery is input from the charging controller, all the light emitterstoare turned on in the same color (blue) as that (3) during charging.

In a case where the charging system is in a relatively light charging disabled state such as an insertion failure of the charging plug into the connector, all the light emitterstoare caused to blink simultaneously in a color that is different from the colors in (1) to (4), and in a color (for example, yellow) that calls attention, at intervals of, for example, 0.5 second.

In a case where the charging system is in a relatively serious charging disabled state such as a charging system failure, all the light emitterstoare caused to blink simultaneously in a color different from the colors in (1) to (5), and in a color (for example, red) that calls more attention than (5) at a time of warning at intervals of, for example, 0.5 second.

As described above, in the vehicle provided with the charging port display systemaccording to the first example embodiment, the power receiverto which electric power is supplied from the external power supply is provided on the outer left wallof a vehicle body, and the power receiveris configured in such a way that the recess portionin which the connectorto which the charging plug at an end of the charging cable to supply electric power from the external power supply is connected is installed is openably/closably covered by the lid.

The displayin the charging port display systemaccording to the first example embodiment includes ten light emitters(2 sets of light emittersto) that are at or adjacent to the connectorand emit light within the recess portion, for example. Then, in a case where an opening operation of the lidis detected by the lid opening/closing switch, the displayperforms a guidance display mode to guide a line of sight to the connectorby changing a light emission amount of the plurality of light emitters. Therefore, a worker in the vicinity of the vehicle can easily recognize a position of the power receiverand an opening operation of the lid.